Solar cells or photovoltaic cells are wide area electronic devices that convert solar energy into electricity by the photovoltaic effect. Assemblies of solar or photovoltaic cells are used to make solar modules, or photovoltaic arrays.
Solar modules and photovoltaic arrays have many applications. One common application is for powering small devices such as electronic calculators. Photovoltaic arrays generate a form of renewable electricity and are therefore particularly useful in situations where electrical power from a grid is unavailable such as in remote area power systems, Earth-orbiting satellites and space probes, remote radiotelephones and water pumping applications. Photovoltaic electricity is also increasingly deployed in grid-tied electrical systems.
Solar cells are often electrically connected and encapsulated as a module. Photovoltaic modules often have a sheet of glass on the front (sun up) side, allowing light to pass while protecting the semiconductor wafers from the elements (rain, hail, etc.). Solar cells are also usually connected in series in modules, creating an additive voltage. Connecting cells in parallel will yield a higher current. Modules are then interconnected, in series or parallel, or both, to create an array with the desired peak DC voltage and current.
Recent improvements to photovoltaic modules have come about with the advent of thin film technologies. In particular flexible amorphous photovoltaic modules eliminate the previous constraints of solid, rigid substrates and open the door for many new applications to be developed.
The present invention provides novel uses of flexible thin film photovoltaic modules and particularly provides methods of incorporating such flexible thin film photovoltaic modules onto various flexible support structures.